A time when Batman had a 4-wheel drive vehicle
Backfire News wrote about a storyline from the time Batman's No Man's Land event was published around the late 1990s, when the writer, Doug Moench, and the assigned artist, John Beatty, added a SUV to the storyline, making use of technology even the Batmobile may not have been written making use of decades prior. And this is a vehicle based on a real life model, the Hummer:
But as flattering as it can be to see a real life auto model illustrated into a comic, was No Man's Land really an "excellent" story? Well the problem is how, towards the end of the tale, the Joker was unsurprisingly spared from death after he murdered Sarah Essen Gordon. It's bad enough this all had to be written as a crossover, something that got way out of hand ever since Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths. But the refusal of DC at the time to put an end to a supervillain like the Clown Prince of Crime, in contrast to some heroic characters, civilian or otherwise, was really making this an aggravating affair. All because the Joker, even today, is considered some kind of a cash cow in merchandise. Indeed, that's the approach almost entirely relied upon for years already, not story merit. Although, if the recent box office failure of the Joker movie sequel is any suggestion, it's begun to change somewhat.
I think the idea of writing up a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the Masked Manhunter to employ in his crusade against crime is clever, but it's a shame that on the subject of the crossover itself, the news site chose to be so predictably sugarcoated about the story and its occurances. An illustration of a real life car or truck model alone doesn't make the tale worth reading.
For those who only know Batman through movies or TV show, the Dark Knight gets around mostly in Batmobiles that are crazy, completely custom rides. However, in the comics Batman uses quite a few cars, both Batmobiles and other vehicles, in his quest to fight crime in Gotham. One of these, curiously, has been a Humvee.And as could be expected, much like the auto-based Batmobile, Batman's Hummer also had some customized features to aid in Batman's war on crime. The Hummer brand at the time had gone commercial at least a few years after its debut, following its purchase by GM, but by 2010, the original brand had fallen in sales and was discontinued. But, as most car experts may know, it was recently revived as part of the GMC brand, and there's even electric editions available.
Right after Gotham was hit by a devastating earthquake in the excellent No Man’s Land story arc, Batman puts his Humvee to work to move a boulder blocking a tunnel in the Batcave. We get a fairly good looks at the military truck, which has of course been painted black and wears the requisite bat insignias.
That comic, Batman #555, came out in June 1998. At the time, Humvees were mostly owned by the wealthy, with former bodybuilder and action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger being the most prominent example.
It seems only fitting that Bruce Wayne, the wealthiest man in Gotham, would have acquired such a plaything. However, instead of driving it to the country club or some swanky restaurant downtown, the man put it to use in his night job.
But as flattering as it can be to see a real life auto model illustrated into a comic, was No Man's Land really an "excellent" story? Well the problem is how, towards the end of the tale, the Joker was unsurprisingly spared from death after he murdered Sarah Essen Gordon. It's bad enough this all had to be written as a crossover, something that got way out of hand ever since Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths. But the refusal of DC at the time to put an end to a supervillain like the Clown Prince of Crime, in contrast to some heroic characters, civilian or otherwise, was really making this an aggravating affair. All because the Joker, even today, is considered some kind of a cash cow in merchandise. Indeed, that's the approach almost entirely relied upon for years already, not story merit. Although, if the recent box office failure of the Joker movie sequel is any suggestion, it's begun to change somewhat.
I think the idea of writing up a 4-wheel drive vehicle for the Masked Manhunter to employ in his crusade against crime is clever, but it's a shame that on the subject of the crossover itself, the news site chose to be so predictably sugarcoated about the story and its occurances. An illustration of a real life car or truck model alone doesn't make the tale worth reading.
Labels: Batman, crossoverloading, dc comics, golden calf of death, golden calf of villainy, good artists, history, msm propaganda, technology, women of dc
